Microclimates in the Bay Area – Climate as diverse as the people

Bay Area is a place famous for its diversity in people and the culture. You will find people from all over the world living here. It isn’t uncommon to see people and foods from all across the globe. Adding to its diversity is its climate. The Bay Area weather is as diverse as its population.

‘Microclimates’ are very typical to the Bay Area. A microclimate can be defined as a local atmospheric zone where the climate is different from the surrounding places. This “local” area could be as small as a few square feet or a few square miles.

What this means is that the weather can change drastically just over a few miles, sometimes just over a few blocks. Just in San Francisco alone, you will find some regions like the ‘Sunset’ laden with thick fog, while areas like ‘North Beach’ could be bright and sunny.Sometimes the weather changes as much as 10 degree Fahrenheit (5 degree Celsius) within a mile or so.

Bay Area has varied microclimates each have their own distinctive pattern of fog, rain, sun and wind and they change depending on seasons and the neighborhood. It is very common to go from extremely sunny San Jose to foggy and breezy San Francisco to pleasant and cool peninsula to extremely hot East Bay.

San Francisco is known for it’s unique weather. Mark Twain famously once said “The coldest winter I ever spent was the summer in San Francisco”. This statement sums up just how unusual the weather here can be Another interesting comment I read on a blog recently was “If you don’t like the weather in San Francisco, walk a few miles”

So anyone moving to the Bay Area must always have lots of layers that you can add or remove based on the climate you are in.It is very helpful to have a coat and a scarf in your car, that way you can throw it on if needed!